Method for providing high connectivity communications over a packet-switched optical ring network using composite packets

ABSTRACT

A system for providing high connectivity communications over a packet-switched optical ring network comprises a core optical ring having at least one node, the node being coupled to a subtending system by an optical crossbar switch, a source for generating a set of packets, a stacker for forming a first composite packet from the set of serial packets, the stacker coupled to the optical crossbar switch, and the stacker further coupled to the source for generating the set of packets, the first composite packet being parallel packets in a single photonic time slot, the first composite packet to be added to the core optical ring in a vacant photonic time slot via the optical crossbar switch, a second composite packet propagating on the core optical ring destined to be dropped at the node for further distribution on the subtending system via the optical crossbar switch, an unstacker for serializing the second composite packet dropped at the node, the unstacker coupled to the optical crossbar switch and a detector for distributing the serialized packets to a further destination by the subtending system. The source for generating the set of packets may be generated, for example, serially by a tunable laser or may be generated, for example, in parallel by an array of lasers.

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/240,464 filed Oct. 13, 2000 entitled “CompositePacket-Switching over WDM by Transparent Photonic Slot Routing”. Thisapplication further claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/239,766 filed Oct. 12, 2000 entitled “High-CapacityPacket-Switched Ring Network”.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to optical communicationssystems and in particular to composite packet-switching over WDM usingtransparent slot routing. The photonic slot routing ring networks use anovel packet stacking technique to add or drop packets, which aresimultaneously time and wavelength division multiplexed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The capacity of WDM systems has been growing at a rate surpassingMoore's Law.

Nevertheless, while telecommunication networks are evolving towardspacket-switching, WDM systems still remain largely circuit-switched.Fast wavelength turnability is both a challenge and key to truepacket-switched WDM networks. A tunable laser opens the possibility toconnect from any WDM node to any other WDM node with a singletransmitter, thus enhancing network flexibility and enabling smoothnetwork upgrades.

While tunable Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) lasers with nanosecondwavelength tuning speed and fast wavelength insensitive optical switcheswith gigahertz responses are becoming commercially available, thereseems to be no current cost-effective way to reconfigure wavelengthadd-drop multiplexers at an adequate speed. DBRs are a special type oflaser mirror, which reflect light only in a narrow frequency band andallow tunable laser operation.

The previous work on photonic slot routing, as described in “ScalableWDM access network based on Photonic Slot Routing” by I. Chlamtac, V.Elek and C. Szabó published in IEEE Transactions on Networking. Vol. 7,No. 1, 1999, pp 1-9, implies distributed generation of packets, whichimplies more complicated scheduling of the packets. FIG. 1 is asimplified diagram of Chlamtac's proposal. The upper ring, with packetspropagating counter-clockwise, is the core optical ring 110. The lowerring, with packets propagating clockwise and which Chlamtac refers to asthe segment ring, will be herein referred to as subtending ring 120. Thesmall rectangular boxes are nodes on each ring. Nodes on the coreoptical ring are denoted as 105. A 2×2 switch 125 is between the coreoptical ring 110 and a subtending ring 120. There is a plurality ofnodes on a subtending ring, and at each node 115 on the subtending ring,there is a receiver timed to a fixed optical wavelength. Multipletunable lasers generate packets, with each tunable laser contributingone packet at one wavelength. That is, the generation of new packets isdistributed, with each node capable of generating new packets. Thesystem proposed by Chlamtac is lossy because Chlamtac uses powersplitters since there are no Optical Add/Drop-Multiplexers (OADMs),capable of operating at an adequate speed and power splitters areintrinsically lossy. That is, there is admission loss when the powersplitters add channels. There is a significant under-utilization of thetunable lasers in the system proposed by Chlamtac because the lasers areused to generate only one packet at one wavelength.

There is a further necessity for the core optical ring in Chlamtac'sproposed system to synchronize with a subtending ring, which isproblematical in light of the optical buffers required by a subtendingring. The problem is exacerbated because there can be multiplesubtending rings in the network, each of which require opticalbuffering. In Chlamtac's proposed system an entire composite packet isdropped at a node on a subtending ring and the first node removes apacket (a portion of the composite packet) in which the node has aninterest. The node can then add a new packet at the same wavelength orany other vacant wavelength, where a vacant wavelength is a wavelengthnot already present in the composite packet. If the first node of asubtending ring removes a packet of the composite packet and addsanother packet to the packet, then a subsequent node on the subtendingring can read or inspect the added packet, which means that privacy islost. This privacy loss may be unacceptable for certain applications.

The proposal described by Chlamtac also does not provide a way ofdropping a part of an optical composite packet from the core ring. Thatis, the entire composite packet must travel around the subtending ring.Transparent bypass is a scheme where each node is transparent to thosewavelengths in a packet that do not match the wavelengths present in theset of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) at the node. The concept oftransparent bypass (and concomitant bandwidth reutilization) was notdisclosed by Chlamtac. Separate lasers are needed to generate differentwavelengths, which means under-utilization of resources, and noimplementation of the stacking means described herein was proposedDistributed generation of packets implies a hierarchical synchronizationscheme. Finally, the ability to tune the add/drop filters was notenvisioned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A novel photonic slot routing network for composite packet-switching isdescribed. Photonic slot routing combines the features of bothpacket-switched (e.g., TDM) and WDM to achieve extremely highconnectivity and flexibility while at the same time addressing thelimitations of existing photonic switching technologies.

A communication method with extremely high connectivity and bandwidthutilization based on routing multi-channel packets using wavelengthindependent n×n optical switches on a cost-effective ring network isdescribed. Composite packets, consisting of a multiplicity of packetsthat are generated at a multiplicity of distinct wavelengths andsynchronized to occur in a single photonic time slot, are in oneembodiment generated locally by a tunable laser source and are thenstacked using a novel stacking technique. To achieve stacking, theplurality/multiplicity of packets are passed through the array ofcirculators and potentially reconfigureable fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs)separated by delay lines in order to align and synchronize in timedomain the plurality of packets. Depending on the position of theoptical switch, each time slot containing composite packets can bedropped or bypassed at a given node. The high connectivity of thenetwork is realized by the fact that packets at any wavelength can besent from any node to any other node by appropriate timing of switches.Furthermore, each composite packet, if dropped, can be furtherdistributed to a multiplicity of uses connected to that node by using,for example, WDM techniques. User connectivity at a node is not limitedto an electrical connection and coupling but may also be any form ofwireless connection or an optical connection.

The system and method described herein provides high connectivity byoptical means when using a single laser source at a given node. This canbe an economical solution for regional or local IP networks, whichrequire high connectivity rather than high throughput. Such a solutionwould lower the initial installment costs for a metro network in theservice space, permitting optical network providers to grow packet-basednetworks modularly with lower marginal costs than previously permitted.That is, capacity can be gradually increased by the addition of morelasers at each node. The system evolves modularly with demand. Thus, asthe number of lasers is increased as needed to fill slots with data, thewavelength-independent switch passes more and more wavelengths. Thesystem is intrinsically blind to format and to rate upgrades (as long asthe packet time is kept constant) and the upgrades can be introduced ona “pay-as-you-go” basis. An IP-friendly WDM architecture insures a moreefficient integration with IP networks. This reduces the systemconstraints down to an irreducible set: the packet length, thetransparency of the switch nodes, and the bandwidth of the opticalcomponents in the system. Finally, the use of reconfigureable opticaldevices such as tunable fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) further increasesnetwork reconfigurability and provisioning ability.

Compared to conventional optical systems, the system and methoddescribed herein would require less optical sources, less complicatedoptics in their nodes, and fewer electronic multiplexing anddemultiplexing hardware to obtain the connectivity afforded by thisapproach. These potentially cost-effective and modular techniques forachieving this high connectivity are both novel and non-obvious.

An object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a modular,cost-effective method for generating, switching and routing compositepackets.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide highconnectivity and bandwidth re-utilization using wavelength independentn×n optical switches on an optical ring network.

It is yet another object of the present invention to generate compositepackets at each node (illustratively using a single rapidly tunablelaser) to stack the composite packets in a given time slot for localinsertion in an optical ring network, where the composite packets aresimultaneously time division multiplexed and wavelength divisionmultiplexed.

A further object of the present invention is to increase networkreconfigurability and provisioning ability through the use of tunablefilter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is best described with reference to the detaileddescription and the following figures, where:

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a prior art proposed system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the present invention from the perspective of theprior art proposed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simple block diagram of the architecture of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a simple diagram of the architecture of the composite packetphotonic slot routing network;

FIG. 5 depicts the architecture for composite-packet photonic slotrouting;

FIG. 6 illustrates the stacker portion of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 depicts the unstacker portion of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an alternative optical routing scheme;

FIG. 9 further illustrates the stacking and unstacking concept;

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment using fiber Bragg gratings ascomponents of the stacker implementation;

FIG. 11 depicts an alternative embodiment of the stacker/unstacker usingWavelength Division Multiplexers (WDMs);

FIG. 12 graphically depicts the stacking and unstacking conceptually;

FIG. 13 a illustrates the stacking and unstacking using a pair of WDMsand mirrors sandwiched between the WDMs on each line;

FIG. 13 b is a graph depicting a serial stream of packets generated by atunable laser,

FIG. 13 c is a graph of a composite packet, which represents the outputof a stacker. From the perspective of the unstacker it represents input;

FIG. 13 d is a graph, which represents the serial stream of packets thatis the result of the unstacking process;

FIG. 14 a is an embodiment of a stacker using a single 2×2N switch;

FIG. 14 b is an implementation of an unstacker using a single 2×2Nswitch;

FIG. 15 a is another embodiment of a stacker using an array ofDistributed Feedback Lasers (DFBs);

FIG. 15 b depicts an unstacker using a WDM;

FIG. 16 illustrates the possibilities facing a composite packet in thecomposite packet photonic slot routing architecture of the presentinvention;

FIG. 17 is a view of the switch that couples the core optical ring to asubtending ring in the “pass through” situation;

FIG. 18 is a view of the switch that couples the core optical ring to asubtending ring in the add/drop situation;

FIG. 19 is a view of the switch that couples the core optical ring to asubtending ring in the drop and leave a slot empty situation;

FIG. 20 is a view of the switch that couples the core optical ring to asubtending ring in the situation when a composite packet needs to beadded to an empty photonic slot;

FIG. 21 depicts an embodiment of the concept of transparent bypass;

FIG. 22 depicts the composite packet indicating the wavelengths that arepassed through and those wavelengths that are to added and/or dropped;

FIG. 23 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the transparent bypasstechnique;

FIG. 24 shows the channel allocation of several nodes;

FIG. 25 is a more detailed illustration of the embodiment of thetransparent bypass technique presented in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 a depicts a reconfigureable unstacker;

FIG. 26 b depicts a reconfigureable stacker/unstacker,

FIG. 27 illustrates multiple nodes for the core optical ring tocommunicate to multiple subtending systems.

FIG. 28 shows spectral responses of the stacker at node 1, the unstackerat node 2 and time averaged tunable DBR laser output spectrum at node 1;

FIG. 29 a depicts the alignment of DBR wavelength tuning voltage withthe input packet modulation data;

FIG. 29 b shows the scope trace of input, stacked, dropped andre-serialized packet data measured by a photodetector,

FIG. 30 shows (1) the eye diagrams of the input packets at node 1 (orback-to-back) and at (2)-(5) the eye diagrams of the recoveredindividual wavelength at node 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the present invention from the perspective of theprior art proposed in FIG. 1. In the present invention the core opticalring 210 has a plurality of nodes 205-1, . . . , 205-i with each nodehaving a switch 235, which in the example in FIG. 2 is a 2×2 switch butwhich may be an n×n switch. There is a tunable laser 225, whichgenerates packets locally and a receiver 230. Stacker 245 stacks thepackets (at different wavelengths) generated by tunable laser 225 toform a composite packet in a single photonic time slot. Stacker 245 maybe serial or parallel. Unstacker 255 unstacks or demultiplexes thepackets locally. Unstacker 255 may be serial or parallel. The subtendingsystem 220 also may have a plurality of nodes 215. A node composes aswitch, a transmitter (e.g. tunable laser), a stacker, an unstacker anda receiver (detector). The subtending system may or may not have anoptical feed and may be a ring, a star, a bus or any other conventionaldistribution architecture. The core optical ring is connected to andcommunicates with the subtending system depicted in FIG. 2 via node 215.An arrow from the subtending pointing towards tunable laser 225indicates communication from the subtending system to the core opticalring via node 215. An arrow from receiver 230 towards the subtendingsystem indicates communication from the core optical ring to thesubtending system via node 215. An out-of-band control channel is usedto detect the state of the switch and to effect a change to the state ofthe switch.

The present invention generates packets locally instead of at each nodeof a subtending ring of Chlamtac. That is, there is one device for thesubtending system of the present invention, which generates packetslocally for the entire subtending system. In a preferred embodiment,that device is a tunable laser. Also there is no need for loop or ringsynchronization. That is, there is no need to synchronize a subtendingor a plurality of subtending systems with the core optical ring becausethe subtending system is not necessarily optically coupled to the coreoptical ring but rather may rely for further packet distribution on anelectrical, wireless or other similar interface. That is, the packetsare unstacked or demultiplexed at the local receiver of the presentinvention and are then available for further distribution electrically,optically or via a wireless interface. The above advantages also makethe present invention easier to build and less lossy.

FIG. 3 is a simple block diagram of the present invention. As with FIG.2, there is a core optical ring 210 having a plurality of nodes 205-1, .. . , 205-i and their respective switches 235, which in this figure are2×2 switches but which may be n×n switches. The tunable laser 225 forgenerating packets locally is on the far left and is an exemplary sourceof a stream of serial packets. The tunable laser is coupled to a stacker305, which receives the packets 315 generated locally by the tunablelaser. The locally generated packets are all at different wavelengths.The stacker receives the locally generated packets serially and “stacks”them so that there is a plurality of packets in a single time slot allat different wavelengths. That is, the stacker operates serially in thisexemplary embodiment. There is a delay T_(p) in the stacking of theserially generated packets to a set of parallel packets in a single timeslot, i.e. a composite packet. The stacker is coupled to the coreoptical ring 210 via optical switch 235 of node 205-i and may add theplurality of stacked packets to the core optical ring for distribution.

In the meantime, the core optical ring may have packets destined for theexploded view node 205-i on the same subtending system. The stackedpackets destined for a node or nodes on the subtending system or systemsare able to be dropped using the same switch that is used to add packetsfrom the subtending system to the core optical ring. The set of stackedpackets to be dropped (further distributed on the subtending system) arereceived from the core optical ring at the unstacker 310 and unstackedfrom a single set of parallel packets, all in different wavelengths, toa serial stream of a plurality of packets, all in different wavelengths.That is, the unstacker operates serially in this exemplary embodiment. Amoment before the arrival of the single set of parallel packets to bedropped, the 2×2 switch flips into the cross state, and the packet isdropped. At the same time, a single set of parallel packets createdlocally is added to the ring. Suppose that the next single set ofparallel packets is not destined for any nodes of the subtending system,then the 2×2 switches to the bar state so that the single set ofparallel packets bypasses the subtending ring. The stacker and unstackermay be two separate devices or may be interleaved sharing somecomponents. An out-of-band control channel 325, operating at a differentwavelength, performs a variety of functions including signaling theswitch regarding the state into which it needs to configure itself. Thiscontrol channel needs to be provisioned and may also provide functionssuch as operations control, maintenance and scheduling. The detector 320communicates with a distribution system and is the mechanism by whichthe distribution system receives information from and forwardsinformation to the core optical ring. The detector 320 furtherdistributes the plurality of serial packets to other possible nodes onthe subtending system electrically, via a wireless interface oroptically.

FIG. 4 is a simple diagram of the architecture of the composite packetphotonic slot routing network of the present invention. Core opticalring 445 has a plurality of nodes 410. At each node, a switch 440couples the core optical ring to a subtending ring. The switch isdepicted on FIG. 4 as a 2×2 switch but the switch may be a n×n switch.Tunable laser 405 is used to generate a serial stream of packets, all atdifferent wavelengths. Fiber Bragg gratings 415 and time delays 420 incombination with circulator C1 are used to stack the serial stream ofpackets into a single composite packet in a single time slot with eachof the parallel packets at a different wavelength. Fiber Bragg gratings415 and time delays 420 in combination with circulator C2 are used tounstack a composite packet dropped at the node. The composite packet isunstacked to form a serial stream of packets for further distribution onthe subtending ring. The stacker and unstacker are depicted herein ashaving interleaved components. The stacker does not include circulatorC2 and the unstacker correspondingly does not include circulator C1.Both the stacker and unstacker operate serially in this exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 5 shows the architecture of the composite packet photonic slotrouting network. A composite packet consists of a multiplicity of fixedlength packets that are synchronized in a single time slot but atdifferent wavelengths, where exemplary packet 1 is at wavelength λ₁,exemplary packet 2 is at wavelength 2 and exemplary packet 3 is atwavelength λ₃. Individual wavelengths (exemplary packets at wavelengthsλ₁, λ₂ and λ₃) in a composite packet are generated serially by a singlerapidly tunable laser source 505 at each node. These packets are sent toa wavelength stacker/unstacker 510 consisting of two optical circulatorsC₁ and C₂ with cascaded equally spaced fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) 515,520 and 525 connected to and sandwiched in between the opticalcirculators. Stacker/unstacker in 510 consists of interleavedcomponents, which share optical components. As illustrated in FIG. 5,packets generated by the tunable laser go though an optical circulatorC1 and travel down the FBG string. If the tunable laser dwells on, forexample, three wavelengths (different colors), each for a period T_(p),judicious spacing of the gratings and the circulator will “stack” thethree differently colored packets into the same time slot. Thiseffectively leads to a bit rate multiplication in a given time slot, sothat a passive optical technique is being used to multiply the datatransport rate by a factor of three without the use of additionalelectrical power or electronic circuitry. This novel photonic “stacking”technique thus allows a cost-effective approach to higher transportrates, and comprises the input to the ring node.

Each FBG reflects a specific wavelength as indicated and is transparentto all other wavelengths. The reflected packets all emerge from thethird port of C₁, which is connected to the ring network 545 through a2×2 polarization and wavelength insensitive optical switch 540. Theswitch is depicted in FIG. 5 as a 2×2 switch but may be a n×n switch.Thus, the packet at wavelength λ₃ is generated first but will undergothe most delay in the stacker. The packet at wavelength λ₂ is generatedwith a delay of T_(p) relative to the λ₃ packet. If the separationbetween adjacent FBGs is set to T_(p)/2, then λ₂ packets experienceT_(p) less delay in the stacker compared to λ₃ packets. Finally, thelast packet is generated at wavelength λ₁ and experiences 2T_(p) lessdelay than the first packet at λ₃. Consequently, the serial packetsgenerated by the tunable DBR laser at different wavelengths are stackedinto the same photonic time slot as a composite packet. The above is notthe only way to create a composite packet. An alternative embodimentincludes but is not limited to using an arrayed waveguide grating router(AWGR). With different delays for different outputs, this approacheliminates cascading losses in the FBGs for systems with many channels.

The composite packets traveling on the ring network are routed using 2×2wavelength insensitive optical crossbar switches 540 at each node. The2×2 optical switch 540 drops a composite packet, and adds the newlycreated composite packet into a vacant photonic time slot in the ring ordoes both (drops and adds) at the same time. To add and/or drop acomposite packet to and/or from the core optical ring, the wavelengthinsensitive optical crossbar switch is flipped into the cross state. Fora composite packet to bypass a node, the optical crossbar switch may bein the bar state or in the cross state if a t pass-through algorithm asdescribed later is used.

Viewing the ring node itself, one sees that when the 2×2 switch is inthe “cross” position, a composite packet that is arriving at the node isdropped from the ring, and another composite packet, the newly generatedcomposite packet described above, can be added to the ring at the sametime. The same set of gratings can be used to serialize or re-serializethe received packet and to detect it at a lower bit rate, i.e., usingthe same optical technique to demultiplex from the transport rate downto the original line rate, again without using electronics (as shown onthe right hand side of FIG. 5). The serialized or re-serialized packetscan then be forwarded on to a subtending system 560 via a detector 550for further distribution to a destination node. This is indicated inFIG. 5 by the line from the detector to the subtending system.Alternatively, the received composite packet can be further opticallydetected in parallel or routed to a user site connected to a subtendingsystem according to its constituent wavelengths (colors). This isindicated by the line from the horizontal line extending from just abovethe label C2 that goes to the subtending system 560. Both the stackerand the unstacker operate serially in this exemplary embodiment. Yetanother alternative embodiment is to serialize or re-serialize thepackets and forward the packets directly to the subtending systembypassing the detector. In this alternative, the unstacker operationwould be parallel. This is indicated by the line from the serialized orre-serialized packets that bypasses the detector and goes to thesubtending system. User connectivity at a node is not limited to anelectrical connection and coupling but may also be any form of wirelessconnection. Thus, a multiplicity of subscribers can be served on eachnode by performing a demultiplexing either passively with WDM, oractively by packet-switching (e.g., IDM), with all detected signals atthe original line rate, not at the transport rate.

From the network viewpoint, since the packets are routed on a time slotbasis, users at each node can send packets to users at any other node bycreating a composite packet that is inserted at the time the destinationnode will drop a composite packet. The two-dimensional multiplexing inboth wavelength and time domains can significantly enhance the networkconnectivity. Segregation of the packet-switched optical ring networktraffic into TDM and WDM permits wavelength reuse: a given wavelength inone slot goes to one user, while the same wavelength in another slotgoes to another user at a different node because that composite packetor any portion thereof in that photonic time slot is dropped by thatdifferent node. The coding by WDM to differentiate users at thedestination thus provides high connectivity in the network. Essentially,this enables full mesh connectivity BELOW the node level without theneed for electronic rate multiplexing and demultiplexing. By design,each node is transparent to those wavelengths in the packet that do notmatch the wavelengths present in the set of fiber Bragg gratings. Thispermits a transparent node bypass.

There are several network enhancements that improve the usefulness ofthe network. An out-of-band broadcast channel for scheduling of trafficis suggested. The fiber Bragg gratings used in the nodes can be madetunable for even higher network flexibility on a dynamic or provisioningbasis, but not on a per-packet basis with current technology. Tomaintain the composite packet synchronization in a moderate scalenetwork, span-by-span chromatic dispersion compensation may be needed. Acredit-based medium access control protocol featuring both good capacityutilization and simple admission control has also been proposed. Thescheduling and credit-based MAC protocol schemes related to the presentinvention have been described in a separate U.S. Provisional PatentApplication entitled “High-Capacity Packet-switched Ring Network” byMikhail Boroditsky, Aleksandra Smiljanic and Nicholas J. Frigo filed onOct. 12, 2000 having U.S. Ser. No. 60/239,766 and the details of theinvention described therein are incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 6 illustrates the serial operation of the stacker portion of FIG.5. Tunable laser 605 is at the far left and the serial packets atdifferent wavelengths are depicted in a stair step configuration. Theserial packets are fed through a circulator C1, a plurality of timedelays 610 and a plurality of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) 615 each atdifferent wavelengths, which each reflect one specific wavelength. Theresult of this scheme is to stack the serial stream of packets generatedby the tunable laser to form a composite packet in which the serialpackets generated by the tunable laser are all contained in parallelwithin one time slot. The composite packet is then able to be added tothe core optical ring. This novel scheme is a passive technique tomultiply the bit rate and to accomplish serial-to-parallel conversion.The FBGs are a mature technology. The tunable DBR lasers have beenannounced and have a very short switching time. Since tuning speed ofactive components is superior to that of passive components, it isadvisable to use fast lasers and wavelength non-selective switching andfixed passive components. The spacing between the fiber Bragg gratingsmust correspond to half of the packet length.

FIG. 7 depicts the serial operation of the unstacker portion of FIG. 5.A composite packet is being dropped from the core optical ring forfurther distribution to a node on the subtending ring. The compositepacket is contained within a single time slot and is a set of parallelpackets, all at different wavelengths. The composite packet is fed intocirculator C2. The circulator C2 in combination with time delays 710 andthe FBGs 715 cause the composite packet to be unstacked or demultiplexedinto a serial stream of packets, all at different wavelengths. There-serialized stream of packets is then further distributed to theappropriate destination via the detector. The novel scheme presentedherein results in a parallel-to-serial conversion of the compositepacket and further distribution is effected electrically or via awireless interface. Alternatively, instead of re-serialization anddetection of the entire photonic stack, the composite packet can berouted within the subtending ring by wavelength.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative to the electrical distribution on thesubtending system. The detector cloud could also, in principal,distribute the composite packet optically using a Wavelength DivisionMultiplexer (WDM) instead of using the FBGS. The composite packet entersthe WDM 905 from the left and exits the WDM as individual wavelengths.

FIG. 9 further illustrates the stacking and unstacking concepts of thepresent invention. The graph on the left shows packets carried ondifferent wavelengths generated in random order such that there is a setof serial packets. Note that in the example, eight different wavelengthsare used. The graph on the right hand side of the figure shows thecomposite packet, which is in a single time slot and is stacked. Thecomposite packet is formed by a serial-to-parallel conversion in time.That is, using passive techniques, the series of packets is converted ina composite packet, where the packets carried by different wavelengthscoincide in time.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment using fiber Bragg gratings ascomponents of the stacker implementation. As indicated in thedescription of FIG. 5, fiber Bragg gratings 415 each reflect onewavelength and are each spaced by T_(p)/2 from the adjacent FBG, so inthe packet stacking process, there is a time delay 1105 between eachwavelength. Wavelength λ₈ has the longest delay and is, thus, emittedfirst Wavelength λ₁ has the shortest delay and is, thus, emitted last.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a stacker/unstacker combinationusing WDMs, such as Arrayed Waveguide Grating Routers (AWGRs). WDM 1205accepts a serial stream of packets and converts the serial stream into acomposite packet as output of WDM 1210.

The top two graphs of FIG. 12 show a serial stream of packets generatedin a stair step or staircase fashion on the left and the resultingcomposite packet on the right. That is, the top two graphs illustratethe stacking concept. The lower two graphs depict the unstacking conceptwith the graph on the left showing the composite packet and the graph onthe right showing the unstacker serial stream of packets that are ableto be further distributed.

FIG. 13 a illustrates the use of a pair of WDMs with mirrors on eachline for the stacking and unstacking. Immediately below the illustrationof the diagram of the pair of WDMs is a graphical representation of thestacking and unstacking process conceptually. Circulator C1 acceptsinput from a tunable laser (not shown) consisting of a serial stream ofpackets. WDM 1405 accepts the input from circulator C1 and together withthe mirror on each line accomplishes the stacking of the serial streamof packets to form a composite packet, which composite packet is thenadded to the core optical ring (network) via the output line fromcirculator C1. Circulator C2 accepts input from the network consistingof a composite packet. WDM 1410 accepts the input from circulator C2 andtogether with the mirror on each line accomplishes theparallel-to-serial conversion to form a serial stream of packets forfurther distribution on the subtending ring (not shown) via the outputline. FIG. 13 b is a graph depicting a serial stream of packetsgenerated in a staircase or stair step fashion by a tunable laser (notshown). FIG. 13 c is a graph of the composite packet labeled Out/In.This composite packet, which is in a single time slot, represents theoutput of the stacker as well as the input to the unstacker. FIG. 13 dis a representation of the serial stream of packets, which is the resultof the unstacking process.

FIG. 14 a is an embodiment of a stacker using the routing properties ofan Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG). FIG. 14 b is an implementation of anunstacker using the routing properties of an AWG. The stacker and theunstacker are shown implemented as separate units. WDM 1505 acceptsinput consisting of a serial stream of packets generated by a tunablelaser (not shown). WDM 1505 forms a composite packet by using the WDMitself to stack the serial packets. The composite packet is output tothe core optical ring (network). WDM 1510 accepts input from the networkconsisting of a composite packet. WDM 1510 forms a serial stream ofpackets by using itself to unstack the composite packet. The serialstream of packets is further distributed on the subtending ring (notshown). The properties of an AWG are well-known to those skilled in theart. (See, C. Dragone, “An N×N Optical Multiplexer Using a PlanarArrangement of Two Star Couplers,” IEEE Photon Tech. Lett., Vol 3, pp812-815, 1991 and C. Dragone, C. A. Edwards, R. C. Kiesder, “IntegratedOptics N×N Multiplexer On Silicon,” IEEE Photon Tech. Lett, Vol 3, pp896-899, 1991.)

FIG. 15 a is another embodiment of a stacker using an array ofDistributed Feedback Lasers (DFBs) 1605. The composite packet isgenerated in parallel so that no serial-to-parallel to conversion isrequired because the DFB produces the composite packet in parallel. Thatis, the stacker operates in parallel in this exemplary embodiment. Thecomposite packet is output to the network. The streams of packets aregenerated by tunable lasers 1615. Similarly, FIG. 15 b uses a WDM 1610to accept a composite packet from the core optical ring. WDM 1610 thendemultiplexes the composite packet outputting the serial stream ofpackets for distribution on the subtending system. That is, theunstacker's operation would be parallel in this exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates the possibilities facing a composite packet in thecomposite packet photonic slot routing architecture of the presentinvention. A composite packet approaching a node on a core optical ringmay be dropped or “passed through” to a further node. A composite packetmay be added. FIG. 16 illustrates core optical ring (network) 1705having a plurality of nodes 1710-1, 1710-2, . . . , 1710-i and a switch1720, which is a part of node 1710 i. Subtending system 1715 is coupledto core optical ring 1705 by a switch 1720, which is depicted herein asa 2×2 switch but which may be a n×n switch. Also illustrated are aplurality of composite packets. Information contained in packetscomprising composite packet 1730 was generated by a node 1760 of thesubtending system 1715 and forwarded to tunable laser 225, whichgenerates a serial stream of packets. Stacker 245 stacks the serialstream of packets to form composite packet 1730. Correspondingly,information destined for a node 1760 on subtending system 1715 iscommunicated as a serial stream of packets (unstacked by unstacker 255)from receiver 230. Composite packet 1730 is illustrated, as it isconstituted after stacking by stacker 245, so the dotted arrow linepoints to the line connecting the stacker to switch 1720. Compositepacket 1740 is propagating on the core optical ring 1705 and is to bedropped at subtending system 1715 to be further distributed on thesubtending system. Composite packet 1750 is another composite packetthat is propagating on the core optical ring 1705 and is not destinedfor any node on subtending system 1715 so is to “bypass” the subtendingsystem or to “pass through” the node for the subtending system.Bypassing and passing through are two similar techniques for permittinga composite packet to continue propagating on the core optical ring 1705until the composite packet is to be dropped at a destination on anothersubtending system.

FIG. 17 is a view of the switch state that couples the core optical ring1805 to a subtending system in the “pass through” situation. Coreoptical ring 1805 has a plurality of nodes 1810-1, 1810-2, . . . ,1810-i and is coupled to subtending system 1815 by a switch 1820, whichis part of node 1810-i. Composite packets 1830 propagating on coreoptical ring 1805 are to be “passed through” as they are not destinedfor any node 1860 on the subtending system 1815. Switch 1820 is depictedas a 2×2 switch but may be a n×n switch. Composite packets 1830 are“passed through” by switching the 2×2 switch to the bar state. Node1810-i comprises switch 1820, tunable laser 225, stacker 245, unstacker255 and receiver 230.

FIG. 18 is a view of the switch state that couples the core optical ring1905 to a subtending system in the add/drop situation. Packetspropagating on core optical ring 1905 which has a plurality of nodes1910-1, 1910-2, . . . , 1910-i) are coupled to subtending system 1915 bya switch 1920, which is part of node 1910-i. Switch 1920 is depicted asa 2×2 switch but may be a n×n switch. Composite packet 1930 propagatingon core optical ring 1905 is to be dropped at subtending system 1915.Information contained in packets comprising composite packet 1940 wasgenerated by a node 1960 of the subtending system 1915 and forwarded totunable laser 225, which generates a serial stream of packets. Stacker245 stacks the serial stream of packets to form composite packet 1940.Correspondingly, information destined for a node 1960 on subtendingsystem 1915 is communicated as a serial stream of packets (unstacked byunstacker 255) from receiver 230. Composite packet 1940 is illustrated,as it is constituted after stacking by stacker 245, so the arrow linepoints to the line connecting the stacker to switch 1920. The switch1920 is switched to the cross state allowing composite packet 1930 to bedropped from the core optical ring 1905 and composite packet 1940 to beadded to the core optical ring 1905 in an empty or vacant photonic timeslot. Node 1910-i comprises switch 1920, tunable laser 225, stacker 245,unstacker 255 and receiver 230.

FIG. 19 is a view of the switch state that couples the core optical ring2005 to a subtending system 2015 in the “drop and leave a slot empty”situation. Core optical ring 2005 has a plurality of nodes 2010-1,2010-2, . . . , 2010-i and is coupled to subtending system 2015 by aswitch 2020, which is part of node 2010-i. Switch 2020 is depicted as a2×2 switch but may be a n×n switch. Composite packet 2030 propagating oncore optical ring 2005 is to be dropped at subtending system 2015. Theswitch 2020 is switched to the cross state allowing composite packet2030 to be dropped from the core optical ring 2005 and leaving an emptyor vacant photonic time slot because no composite packets are to beadded at this instant. Node 2010-i comprises switch 2020, tunable laser225, stacker 245, unstacker 255 and receiver 230. Information destinedfor core optical ring 2005 is generated by a node 2060 on subtendingsystem 2015 and is forwarded to tunable laser 225. Information destinedfor a node 2060 on subtending system 2015 from core optical ring 2005 iscommunicated to subtending system 2015 from receiver 230.

FIG. 20 is a view of the switch state that couples the core optical ring2105 to a subtending system 2115 in the situation when a compositepacket needs to be added to an empty photonic slot Core optical ring2105 has a plurality of nodes 21101, 2110-2, . . . , 2110-i and iscoupled to subtending system 2115 by a switch 2120, which is part ofnode 2110-i. Switch 2120 is depicted as a 2×2 switch but may be a n×nswitch. Information contained in packets comprising composite packet2130 was generated by a node 2160 of the subtending system 2115 andforwarded to tunable laser 225, which generates a serial stream ofpackets. Stacker 245 stacks the serial stream of packets to formcomposite packet 2130. Correspondingly, information destined for a node2160 on subtending system 2115 is communicated as a serial stream ofpackets (unstacked by unstacker 255) from receiver 230. Composite packet2130 is illustrated, as it is constituted after stacking by stacker 245,so the arrow line points to the line connecting the stacker to switch2120. The switch 2120 is switched to the cross state allowing compositepacket 2130 to be added to the core optical ring 2105 in an empty orvacant photonic time slot. Node 2110 i comprises switch 2120, tunablelaser 225, stacker 225, unstacker 255 and receiver 230.

Transparent bypass is a technique that allows the addition of and/ordropping of a portion of a composite packet without affecting thebalance of the composite packet. Any node can be adding or dropping aportion of a composite packet while leaving the remainder of thecomposite packet intact. In the prior art, wavelengths not dropped in asubtending ring would have to travel all the way around the subtendingring incurring all of the associated losses.

FIG. 21 depicts an embodiment of the concept of transparent bypass,where a first portion of the composite packet can be distributed to adestination, for example, on the subs tending system and a secondportion of the composite packet can be routed back onto the core opticalring. The portion of the composite packet that is routed back onto thecore optical ring may be interleaved with portions of a composite packetcreated by the stacker from input from a tunable laser or other sourceof a serial stream of packets. FIG. 21 is the most straightforwardimplementation of the transparent bypass technique. Core optical ring2205 has a plurality of nodes 2210-1, 2210-2, . . . , 2210-i and aswitch 2220, which is part of node 2210-i. Switch 2220 is depicted as a2×2 switch but it may be a n×n switch. In an exemplary instance,wavelengths λ₁ to λ₈ are to be dropped and/or packets are to be added tovacant slots in the composite packet in this range. Wavelengths λ₉ toλ₁₆ are to be transparently bypassed. The switch 2220 is in the crossposition and a composite packet is dropped to WDM 2240. Wavelengths λ₉to λ₁₆ are routed to WDM 2230 and output back to the core optical ringthrough the switch in cross state. Wavelengths λ₁ to λ₈ are routed tocirculator C2 and thereafter through the fiber Bragg gratings 2215 andtime delays 2250 and the packets that are to be further distributed onthe subtending system are output from circulator C2. A serial stream ofpackets generated by a tunable laser (not shown) is accepted as input bycirculator C1. Circulator C1 in combination with the fiber Bragggratings transforms the serial stream of packets generated by a tunablelaser (not shown) into a composite packet, which is interleaved with anypackets in the wavelength range λ₁ to λ₈ that are vacant slots. FIG. 22depicts the composite packet indicating the wavelengths that are passedthrough and those wavelengths that are to added and/or dropped.

FIG. 23 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the transparent bypasstechnique in which the composite parent goes through the stacker inorder the switch output to input. Core optical ring 2405 has a pluralityof nodes 2410-1, 2410-2, . . . , 2410-i and a switch 2420, which is partof node 2410-i. The transparent bypass technique in this embodiment usesa plurality of three-port circulators C1 and C2 and four-portcirculators C3, C4 and C5 and fiber Bragg gratings 2430. A disadvantageof this embodiment is cross-talk, which can be reduced or eliminatedusing well known switch dilation techniques.

FIG. 24 shows the channel allocation of several nodes. The channelallocations for node K indicate that the upper wavelength range ispassed through and the lower wavelength range is subject to add/drop. Innode L the channel allocation indicates that the central wavelengthrange is add/drop and the wavelength range at both the top and thebottom is passed through. In node M the channel allocation is uniquelydefined.

FIG. 25 is a more detailed illation of the embodiment of the transparentbypass technique resented in FIG. 24. Core optical ring 2605 has aplurality of nodes 2610-1, 2610-2, . . . , 2610-i with correspondingswitches 2620-1, 2620-2 . . . , 2620-i, which are part of theircorresponding nodes. The transparent bypass technique in this embodimentuses a plurality of three-port circulators C1 and C2 and four-portcirculators C3 and C4 and fiber Bragg gratings 2615. Tunable laser 2601generates a serial stream of packets to be stacked and added to the coreoptical ring 2605. In advance of approaching each node, a determinationis made for each composite packet whether it is to be dropped or whetherit is to pass through the node or any portion thereof is to be droppedor to be passed through the node. In the example in FIG. 25, compositepacket 2625 consists of composite packet portion 2630, which is to bedropped, and composite packet portion 2640, which is to be passedthrough the node. Composite packet portion 2630 consists of a pluralityof packets of wavelengths λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ and composite packet portion2640 consists of a plurality of packets of wavelengths λ₄ and λ₅. Theswitch for the node in the exploded view is put into the cross state.Both composite packet portions 2630 and 2640 are dropped Since the fiberBragg gratings 2615 only reflect wavelengths λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃, compositepacket portion 2630 is dropped and unstacked for further routing bydetector 2650 or WDM 2660. Composite packet portion 2640 transparentlybypasses or travels through the electronics and is interleaved with thenow stacked packets generated by tunable laser 2601, whereupon thecomposite packet portion 2640 re-enters core optical ring 2605 alongwith the new composite packet generated at the node in the explodedview. That is, those ‘thru’ composite packets are added to the ringtogether with the part of the composite packet stack generated at thenode by the tunable laser source 2601. This provides an increasedbandwidth re-utilization capability to the network 2605, since the setof wavelengths used in the network can be significantly larger than thatcovered by any given laser source's tuning range. This novel andnon-obvious transparent packet-switching scheme improves ringperformance by increasing the number of wavelengths available on thering over the number of wavelengths available at the nodes. The cost istwo more four-port circulators and the associated delay lines. Theforward delay is T_(p) and there is no delay on reflection. This noveland non-obvious implementation increase bandwidth utilization andsimplifies scheduling.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is the possible degreesof flexibility. The photonic slot routing algorithm of the presentinvention also allows for Tune Slot Interchange (TSI), which is normallyperformed electronically. In a fiber Bragg grating embodiment, TSI isperformed by interchanging the order of the fiber Bragg gratings in thestacker relative to the unstacker. In an embodiment that uses WDMs, TSIis accomplished by interchanging the order of the fiber delay lines. Theuse of a tunable stacker/unstacker provides additional flexibility. Ifthe fiber Bragg gratings are widely tunable, then the highest order ofreconfigurability is insured because λ_(i) can be tuned to λ_(j) andvice versa. This process is identical to physically exchanging thewavelengths.

Another method for making stacking and unstacking reconfigureable is toexchange delay lines for different wavelengths. Such flexibility isprovided by using a reconfigureable unstacker such as depicted in FIG.26 a. Here a switching matrix is interposed between a WDM and a set ofdelay lines. The switchable paths in the switch are represented bydashed lines. By programming the switch, one can associate a delay linewith a wavelength. In FIG. 26 a, a 4×4 switch defines the delay of eachwavelength. This effectively alters the unstacking order. That is, thewavelengths can be unstacked in any arbitrary order. Viewing the fourports on the left hand side of the WDM as 1-4 in order from top tobottom will result in the incoming composite packet being unstacked inthe following order λ₃, λ₁, λ₄ and λ₂. The composite packet arrivesstacked from the network and is unstacked in any arbitrary order using acirculator, a WDM and the 4×4 switch. The switch depicted here is 4×4but the switch may be n×n.

If the fiber Bragg gratings are not widely tunable, then areconfigureable and tunable stacker/unstacker as depicted in FIG. 26 bcan be used. A switch can be used to change the order of the fiber Bragggratings in the stacker/unstacker. The solid lines represent a permanentconnection and the dashed lines represent switchable connections. In anexemplary embodiment a reconfigureable and tunable stacker/unstacker canbe implemented using a 5×5 switch and a plurality of fiber Bragggratings. The composite packet arrives stacked from the network and isunstacked in any arbitrary order using circulators, the 5×5 switch and aplurality of fiber Bragg gratings. Following the signal coming into theleft circulator (to be stacked), the first grating will be the λ₁grating followed by a delay line, then the λ₄ grating and then anotherdelay line, followed by the λ₃ grating and another delay fine, and theλ₂ grating and a final delay line. Alternatively, for a composite packetentering from the right circulator (from the network and to beunstacked) the packet will be unstacked in the following order λ₂, λ₃,λ₄ and λ₁. The switch depicted here is 5×5 but may be n+1×n+1, where nis the number of wavelengths. The dashed lines denote thereconfigureable optical switch connections.

FIG. 27 is similar to FIG. 3 and is, therefore, similarly labeled.However, in FIG. 27 a plurality of nodes are illustrated with the coreoptical ring 210 in communication with each of the exploded view nodes205-i-1, 205-i-2, . . . , 205-i-j, and where each node further has itsown switch 235-i-1, 235-i-2, . . . , 235-i-j, its own tunable laser225-1, 225-2, . . . , 225-j, its own stacker 305-1, 305-2, . . . , 305j, its own unstacker 310-1, 310-2, . . . , 310-j, and its own detector320-1, 320-2, . . . , 320-j. FIG. 27 further illustrates the use of n×nswitches to connect multiple subtending systems to the core optical ring210. Composite packets for a time slot may be provided by any of thesubtending systems.

To prove the concept, a 2-node demonstration network has beenconstructed. Each node contains a 4 wavelength stacker/unstacker unitwith 100-GHz wavelength spacing and the same FBG arrangement. One nodeis used for stacking and the other for unstacking. Adjacent FBGs in thestacker/unstacker are separated by 2 km, which corresponds to a photonictime slot length of about 20 μs. FIG. 28 shows the matching among thespectral response of the stacker and the unstacker, and the outputwavelengths of the tunable DBR laser. The insertion loss in both thestacker and unstacker increases as the distance of the FBG from thecirculator increases, although they tend to balance each other out. Thiscascading loss is mainly due to the connectors in the setup, which canbe greatly reduced by fusion splicing the fibers with FBGs.

A tunable DBR laser with monolithically integrated semiconductoramplifier, and 25 Gb/s electro-absorption (EA) modulator (as describedin “2.5 Gb/s transmission over 680 km using a fully stabilized 20channel DBR laser with monolithically integrated semiconductor opticalamplifier, photodetector, and electroabsorption modulator,” by L. J. P.Ketelsen, J. E. Johnson, D. A. Ackerman, L. Zhang, K. K., Kamath, M. S.Hybertsen, K. G. Glogovsky, M. W. Focht, W. A. Asous, C. L. Reynolds, C.W. Ebert, M. Par, C. W. Lentz, R. I. Hartman and T. L. Koch, publishedin the Proceedings of OFC 2000 (PD14), Baltimore Md.), is packaged withhigh-speed electrical connections to both tuning and modulator sections.Together with a stacker at Node 1, the DBR laser generates the compositepackets. The DBR laser frequencies, which can be trimmed by temperaturetuning, can be discretely switched on a 100 GHz spaced comb of 9channels in less than 5 ns.

An arbitrary waveform generator is programmed for the DBR laserwavelength tuning Trace 1 in FIG. 29 a). The serial packet data (Trace 2in FIG. 29 a) at 200 MHz bit rate are generated by a Tektronix HFS9003stimulus pattern generator synchronized to the wavelength timing voltageand applied to the EA modulator section of the DBR laser. The firsttrace in FIG. 29 b shows the input packet modulation signal to thetunable DBR laser. A 3904-bit (488-byte) packet size consisting of 3824random bits and 80 bit guard time was adopted. During the guard time,the laser output is turned off using the built-in EA modulator to avoidspurious wavelength output during wavelength transition. The guard timealso allows for timing jitter produced by the mismatches in the fiberdelay lines between the FBGs. In an exemplary embodiment, to cope withthe pattern generator trigger requirement, an extra 1120-bit triggerrearm time interval is inserted between every 4 serial packets (whichmake up a composite packet), as shown in FIG. 29 b. This rearm time alsohelps to identify the packets on the scope traces and its necessity andduration will vary according to the configuration of the network Trace 2of FIG. 29 b shows the stacked composite packets. Individual wavelengthsare very well aligned as indicated. The stacked packets are transmittedthrough a 5-km long single mode fiber to Node 2 where a 2×2 LiNbO₃switch is used to drop every other composite packet from Node 1 (Trace 3of FIG. 29 b). The dropped composite packet is optically amplified witha low noise optical preamplifier and re-serialized at the unstackeroutput of Node 2 (Trace 4 of FIG. 29 b). The dropped packets at all fourwavelengths were successfully recovered using an Avalanche PhotoDiode(APD), which is a particular kind of fast and sensitive photodetector.FIG. 30 shows the eye diagram of the input packets and those of thedemultiplexed packets at each individual wavelength.

A system and method for a novel high connectivity compositepacket-switching system have been described and successfullydemonstrated. The system and method described uses a single tunablelaser source and passive optical components at each node his can be aneconomical solution for IP networks, which require high connectivity andpacket-switching. Photonic slot routing schemes not only could be usefulfor local area networks but also could be an economically viablesolution for interconnecting large router farms.

It should be clear from the foregoing that the objectives of theinvention have been met. While particular embodiments of the presentinvention have been described and illustrated, it should be noted thatthe invention is not limited thereto since modifications may be made bypersons skilled in the art. The present application contemplates any andall modifications within the spirit and scope of the underlyinginvention disclosed and claimed herein.

1-37. (canceled)
 38. A method for providing high connectivitycommunications over an optical ring network operating in photonic timeslots, comprising the steps of: generating a set of serial packets by atunable laser, where each packet in said set is at a differentwavelength and occupies a time slot of said time slots; stacking saidset of serial packets to form a first composite packet to superimposesaid packets within a time slot of said time slots to form a firstcomposite packet; employing an optical crossbar switch of a first nodeof a core ring of said ring network to add said first composite packet,as a unit into an empty time slot of a core ring of said network;dropping said first composite packet as a unit in a second node of saidcore ring of said ring network which second node is a destination nodeof said first composite packet, serializing said first composite packetat said second node into a received serial stream of packets; anddistributing at least one packet of said received serial stream ofpackets.
 39. The method according to claim 38, further comprising asteps of: concurrently with the adding of said first composite packet,dropping a second composite packet from said core ring, unstacking saidsecond composite packet at said firs node into a second received serialstream of packets; and distributing at least one packet of said secondreceived serial stream of packets.
 40. The method according to claim 39,wherein said stacking is carried out by a stacker, and said unstackingis carried out by an unstacker.
 41. The method according to claim 40,wherein said stacker and said unstacker form a single device by sharingsome components.
 41. (canceled)
 42. The method according to claim 38,wherein said first composite packet arrives at said destination node bypassing through an optical crossbar switch contained within each of Nnodes of said core network, where N≧0.
 43. The method according to claim38, wherein said stacking step entails a time delay.
 44. The methodaccording to claim 38, wherein said serializing step entails a timedelay.
 45. The method according to claim 38, wherein said generatingstep generates said set of serial packets, each packet at a differentwavelength in a sequential manner.
 46. The method according to claim 38,wherein said generating step generates said set of serial packets, eachpacket at a different wavelength in an arbitrary sequence.
 47. Themethod according to claim 40, wherein said unstacking is performed by aWDM demultiplexer. 48-50. (canceled)
 51. A method for accomplishingtransparent bypass over a high connectivity communications optical ringnetwork comprising the steps of: dropping a first composite packetcomprising a plurality of parallel packets at a node of a core opticalring, as a unit, via an optical crossbar switch in a cross state;serializing and further distributing a first portion of said pluralityof parallel packets; and passing a second portion of said plurality ofparallel packets through and outputting said second portion of saidplurality of parallel packets back onto said core optical ring. 52.(canceled)
 53. (canceled)
 54. The method according to claim 51, furthercomprising the steps of: creating a second composite packet to be added,as a unit, to said core optical ring; and interleaving said secondcomposite packet with said second portion of said plurality of parallelpackets prior to said second portion of parallel packets being outputonto said core optical ring.
 55. A method for providing highconnectivity communications over an optical ring network comprising thesteps of: generating a set of serial packets; forming a first compositepacket from said set of serial packets, said first composite packetbeing parallel packets in a single photonic time slot; adding said firstcomposite packet as a unit to a core optical ring in a vacant photonictime slot via an optical crossbar switch; dropping a second compositepacket propagating on said core optical ring at a node, as a unit, forfurther distribution via a subtending system; and serializing saidsecond composite packet dropped at said node.
 56. The method accordingto claim 55, wherein said generating step is performed by a tunablelaser.
 57. The method according to claim 55, further comprising the stepof a providing enhanced services including packet formation, packetinsertion, packet extraction and optical crossbar switch control via acontrol channel.
 58. The method according to claim 57, wherein saidcontrol channel is out-of-band.
 59. The method according to claim 55,wherein said forming step is performed serially.
 60. The methodaccording to claim 55, wherein said forming step is performed isparallel.
 61. The method according to claim 55, wherein said serializingstep is performed serially.
 62. The method according to claim 55,wherein said serializing step is performed in parallel.
 63. The methodaccording to claim 55, wherein devices performing said forming step andsaid serializing step are both serial and share optical components. 64.The method according to claim 55, wherein devices performing saidforming step and said serializing step are both parallel and shareoptical components.
 65. The method according to claim 55, wherein atransparent bypass scheme accomplishes a bypass from switch output toswitch input.
 66. The method according to claim 65, wherein a firstportion of said second composite packet is distributed to a destinationand a second portion of said second composite packet is routed back ontosaid core optical ring bypassing said stacker.
 67. The method accordingto claim 66, wherein said second portion of said second composite packetis interleaved with a third composite packet created by said stacker.68. The method according to claim 65, wherein a first portion of saidsecond composite packet is distributed to a destination and a secondportion of said composite packet is routed back onto said core opticalring by passing through said stacker.
 69. The method according to claim68, wherein said second portion of said second composite packet isinterleaved with a third composite packet created by said stacker. 70.The method according to claim 55, wherein said node has optical outputand said subtending system is driven optically by output of said opticalcrossbar switch.
 71. The method according to claim 69, wherein said nodefurther comprises transceivers to receive said optical output of saidnode and to retransmit said optical output said optical crossbar switchto said subtending system.
 72. The method according to claim 38, whereinsaid first composite packet arrives at said destination node by passingthrough an optical crossbar switch contained within each of N nodes ofsaid core network, where N≧0.